


Nail Painting

by cinnamontoffee



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Restless Hands, friendship bonding, mentions of others - Freeform, remembering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-07-12 19:16:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19951450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinnamontoffee/pseuds/cinnamontoffee
Summary: Rita gets her nails painted for the very first time.





	Nail Painting

"Judith? You can paint nails, right?" the young mage nervously approached the krityan woman.

"Hm? Oh, yes I can, why?"

"...paint mine for me please."

It struck as odd to Judith for Rita to approach her and ask her to do something as girly as painting one's nails. No one would have ever thought that the short tempered researcher would engage in that activity.

"Why didn't you ask Estelle? Surely she would have been more than happy to." the dragon rider asked, confused.

"Thing is, she did offer. But I didn't like the colours she had." Rita had begun, hesitating against her true reason, "...but also because the others were there and it would have been odd."

Right, she was a more private person and got easily flustered. Karol and Yuri would have been at her for days if they saw her nails get painted. And Judith knew that Rita would feel more comfortable talking to her since she singled herself out of the 'group bonding'.  
Hours had passed since the activity, and everyone had went to sleep, but Rita approached Judith on the Fiertia's dock, talking to Ba'ul on one of her restless nights. The kritya had already set out a small mattress with a pillow, blanket and a plush of her Entelexeia friend, with obvious intentions of sleeping outdoors.

"...so, will you do it?"

"Of course, I don't mind." Judith replied as she exited to retrieve the makeup kit she was gifted from Patty out of her room. The mage sat on the mattress, eyes locked onto the plush, then gazed left towards the gigantic Entelexeia laying next to the docked boat, dozing off lightly. It does not look like you. She thought.

As Judith returned, she sat herself next to her friend, and opened the box, revealing a few bottles of nail polish and smaller kit of decorations. She tried smiling at the mage, but the latter didn't smile back.

"Pick a colour." She asked, Rita pointed to the neon emerald green that the kritya had her finger on. "Any decorations?" She continued, the mage once again pointing to the tiny silver gems in the kit.  
As Judith separated the chosen items, she held out Rita's right hand, which she instinctively pulled away.

"Rita, if you want your nails painted, I need your hand." She responded, bring back her hand, which had begun fidgeting. This was not going to work.  
"If I let you cuddle my plush, will you keep calm?" Rita nodded in response, taking the indication to pick up the doll of Ba'ul and holding it to her body with her free hand, mouthing a 'thank you' before her nails began to get painted.

~

"So, why do you come out here to sleep at times?" the mage began.

"I like to keep Ba'ul company." Judith replied bluntly and quickly, not looking up from her friend's finger nails. Trying, but failing to keep up the conversation, Rita changed subjects.

"How old were you when you learnt how to paint nails?"

"...I was ten. One of the older girls in Myorzo tried to get to know me, so she taught me how to paint nails, even though I wanted to leave so badly." Judith's voice got softer, with a little sadness in it. She took a tweezer, and placed a silver gemstone in the middle of Rita's painted thumb nail, and looked up with a 'how's that?' face. The mage nodded, before replying "only put the gems on my thumbs."  
Trying once more to carry a conversation, she began.

"Why do you usually isolate yourself from us? We're your friends."  
No response.  
"Judith?"  
No response.

"...I feel like I can't get close with anyone again," the kritya began, "not after what happened 10 years ago."

"What did happen for you to close up like this?" An immediate response from Rita that she quickly regretted.

"There are things that I am not ready to disclose to any of you yet."

"What about to Yuri? You two seem pretty close, hell he was the one who sought you out at Mt. Temza and got you the plush." She put emphasis on the plush of Ba'ul as she squeezed it gently against her body.

"There are things that even to him, I'm not ready to disclose." Judith replied quickly and softly, hiding the hurt in her eyes. Ba'ul softly bellowed after her words, which was followed by a "I'm okay, don't worry." from her. Once the right hand was done, Rita pulled away and gave her left hand to her friend, fidgeting once more. She didn't risk holding the Ba'ul plush and getting nail polish on it.

"Rita, you're shaking again. Is there a problem?" Judith finally broke the silence and finally looked up. The mage finally saw the pain in the kritya's eyes. Maybe she was remembering one of those memories she did not want to share.

"I just, can't stay still. I get chills down my spine when I stay too still for too long." she replied, "and you're looking as if you're about to cry, I should be asking you if you're okay." Judith didn't realize the tears welling in her eyes, and stopped painting her friend's ring fingernail.

"...no, I'm good."

"Yuri told me you suck at lying, now tell me what's really wrong."

"...just a memory. I remember my father trying to paint my finger nail for me when I broke my thumb as a young child. I couldn't stay still either." The kritya admitted, managing a weak smile.  
As Rita's left hand was done, she quickly moved to shake her wrists repeatedly, to get her nails to dry faster. However, she did not notice Judith painting her right thumb nail with the same colour before packing up.

"What's with the coloured thumb?" the mage asked.

"This was the same colour my dad used years ago. On this same thumb." she replied, beginning to cry a little. In a flash of a second, Rita subconsciously moved to hug her friend. Judith didn't react at first, but began crying into her shoulder. This was the first time she cried near any of her Brave Vesperia friends. Not evdn Yuri saw her cry. No words were exchanged before breaking the embrace.

"...I won't tell anyone, promise." Rita pledged. Judith nodded and began to prepare to lay down as her friend began to move back indoors. "Thank you so much, Judith, sorry for triggering memories, though."

"It's alright, and no problem. Good night." the kritya replied before embracing her plush tight and stroking it. As Rita went inside, she could have heard Judith cry again, and it pained her to hear it. Maybe one day she would feel comfortable enough to explain to everyone.

**Author's Note:**

> It's 5am what am I still doing up. Anyway if you read this, thanks I guess. Uh expect more Judith angst in the future as I get through my second run of Vesperia Definitive.


End file.
